Crossroads
by Calico Kat
Summary: Set after DOA4, Hayate goes to Germany to make good on his promise to save Hitomi's father's dojo, and is faced with the contrast between the life he leads and the chance at a different life he left behind.


Bells chimed Mugen Tenshin clan leader Hayate's entrance. He was greeted by a hundred relics of bygone eras, gold and red and black, made of ancient wood, and a weathered welcoming cat with its left paw raised. Hayate had only been inside Hayabusa Curios and Antiques a handful of times since the shop had opened.

"Irrashai," the clerk at the counter greeted without looking up from his magazine.

Hayate peered at him piercingly, perplexed. "Hey. Ryu."  
"Please, let me know if I can assist you," the young man continued as he flipped the page.

Hayate shook his head with a twinge of exasperation and began browsing the shelves. There were temple bells, and old sake sets, elaborately carved tea measurers, and antique shop curtains. An elaborate mushaningyo, a boy's samurai doll, looked down from a top shelf, grey-haired and dour. A shelf with manekineko, like the cat statue at the door, was almost requisite. Pieces of furniture, large and small, decorated the store, along with old martial arts equipment and an antique military saddle. Hayate moved through these artifacts, unsure what he was looking for.

"Clerk. I need an opinion." The clerk's stoic opinion followed: "Your shirt would look better on a woman."

Hayate looked down at his shirt. It was light colored and snug fitting, yeah, but… "The service here is terrible."

Ryu appeared at his side. A moment later, Hayate heard the sound of the magazine hitting the floor. The Dragon Ninja leaned in to inspect the shelf Hayate had been looking at, an array of old ikebana equipment. "What are you looking for?"

"A gift for Ein's sensei."

Ryu picked up an ikebana basket and made the pretense of examining it. "Oh? Going to Germany?"

"Hitomi found me, before the attack on DOATEC. I told her if she defeated me I would save sensei's dojo."

Ryu's green eyes slid appraisingly over Hayate's figure with a skeptical glance.

Hayate shrugged. "My karate was rusty." He watched Ryu as the shinobi began moving among the shelves, slow, searching, and graceful. Even now Ryu gave all the tells of a combat master. Hayate suspected he might have acted to hide them around any other customer.

Hayate rarely had the chance to observe his old friend at such a mundane activity. Once or twice a month, Hayate might manage to join the Dragon Ninja in the mountains where Ryu went fishing and rock climbing, but as often as not business called him back before the day was through. Hayate knew there was nothing to envy about a shinobi without a clan, but arbitrating the affairs of the Mugen Tenshin often took as much time and energy as he had. He was looking forward to Germany, where pulling the dojo that had been his home out of debt was no life-or-death affair. It had taken some doing, but he had managed to secure two weeks of vacation, although he would remain on call. It was an unfortunate reality of his work that something was always, literally, exploding.

"I have an idea," Ryu said. He disappeared through the shop curtains to the back of the store. Hayate waited a minute before remembering he was no ordinary customer and following him back. Ryu was unpackaging an elaborate kami-dana, a spirit shelf, a perfectly formed model of a temple entrance, tiny staircase leading up to delicate wooden doors, its eves decorated with small, elaborate carvings beneath a slatted roof. "This, I rescued."

Hayate thought back on the dojo's kami-dana. It was well made, and had attracted good spirits, but the spirit shelf before him glowed with hallowed energy. It was this attribute, and not the kami-dana's intricate make, which cemented Hayate's decision. Certainly, this gift would go further to protect the dojo in Hayate's absence than any decorative trinket. "How much?"

"Take it. It has no price."

Hayate understood.

----

Hayate waited in the hallway in front of the apartment door. After he rang, there had been a crash, and he could hear faint sounds of activity in the room beyond, and a girl's voice lamenting. A minute later, Hitomi's bright face greeted him in the cracked doorway.

"Ein! I didn't expect you here already."

"I'm sorry. Should I come back later?"

"No, no. I just need to get dressed. Could you wait in the living room?"

Hitomi opened the door a little wider, stepping back to keep her modesty as Hayate entered, politely averting his eyes.

"I'll be right back!"

Her bare feet padded off across the apartment. Hayate caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eyes, a flash of brown hair, bare legs, and white t-shirt. The apartment smelled of fresh-cooked food… it had something to do with the salad and eggs spilled across the floor. Hayate didn't hide his smile. He set his bag and package down next to the couch and went to search the kitchen for paper towels. At home in Japan, he rarely had a chance at mundane activities like cleaning up a spill. In his time away, he had begun to forget the simplicity of his life in Germany. By the time Hitomi returned, he was wiping up the last remnants of the mess on the floor.

Hitomi flushed with embarrassment. "You didn't need to do that. You're supposed to be my guest." She was sporting her usual, practical attire: jeans and a fitted top, her hair pushed back by a familiar pink headband.

Hayate shook his head. "I may be in Germany for awhile. I can't be a guest the whole time."

Hitomi sized him up like she was thinking of arguing her point. She cheered up, instead, her cheeks still pink, saying: "If that's how it is… Danke sehr."

"Do you have the accounting records?"

Hitomi glanced at the big package Hayate had brought into her apartment, curiously, lamenting, "Straight to business, already?"

"It didn't sound like we have time to waste."

Hitomi's clear blue eyes sobered at those words and her bright expression dimmed. Nodding her agreement, she disappeared into another room, returning moments later with a heavy cardboard box cradled in her arms. She dropped it on the table with a little grunt. Hayate lifted the lid from the box and began inspecting the folders inside.

"There's five more where this came from. These are the newest. Should I bring the others out?"

"Bring the next two most recent, and a notepad, if you have it," Hayate ordered. He checked himself, adding more gently: "Please."

Hitomi paused to look at him before headed back into her room with a "_Ja._"

Hayate pulled out the bunch of papers furthest forward in the box and sat down to begin pursuing them. As the leader of the Mugen Tenshin, he had accountants to manage the clan business, but he was a firm believer in hands-on management and always double-checked the accounts himself. He hoped that by seeing where the dojo's financial troubles had begun he could pinpoint a way to keep the business in the black. When he had asked his head accountant, Arakaki, about extending a loan to the dojo, the ninja had enigmatically replied: _Money doesn't solve money problems_. Recognizing his own wisdom in the area was ill-exercised, Hayate had been meditating on those words during the plane ride from Japan. While Hitomi moved boxes, Hayate began his work.

After Hayate was settled in, Hitomi left the apartment to go lead lessons at the dojo with her father. When she came home, she cooked food for the two of them, produced a pile of books from her bedroom, and began to study. For awhile, the silence was only disturbed by the rustling of graphite on paper.

When the lines of German and numbers began to blur before his eyes, Hayate set his pencil down and looked over at his companion. She was curled up with a textbook on the couch, face set with her characteristic determination. Hayate was impressed. Her work ethic matched the patience of a shinobi. "Do you have an examination?"

It took Hitomi a minute to register that he'd spoken to her. When the words sank in, she looked up. She smiled, but her smile was tired. "I'm studying for my Abi."

Hayate remembered hearing the Abitur mentioned among the dojo students in the past. The examination determined which students would get into university after their eight years in Gymnasium. "Juken jigoku?" he teased in Japanese. _Examination hell?_

Hitomi wrinkled her nose. "Yeah. That's it."

Hayate looked down at the papers in his hands, but his vision hadn't cleared. A frown appeared in his brow. He wasn't ready to give up for the day.

"You should take a break, Ein. You've been working all day, but you must have jet lag. If you want, I can get some clean sheets and you can sleep in the bed tonight."

Hayate weighed the offer and decided it would be more impolite to decline. "I would appreciate it." When he had called Hitomi to make travel arrangements she had insisted she would find a place for him and that he didn't have to pay for a hotel. He supposed she had been well meaning without informing him she meant she'd find a place for him _in her own apartment_. He had given his subordinates her phone number, but when he was alone in her room he called them on his cellular phone to let them know he'd be available at that number for the foreseeable future.

For four days, Hayate read through the dojo's extensive financial records, sometimes calling Arakaki's assistants on the phone with questions. To stretch his legs, he practiced katas on the polished wood floor. On the third day, he went to lunch with Hitomi's father, and presented him with the antique. His sensei promised to display the kami-dana in the place of prominence, and invite the dojo's spirits to reside inside. By the end of the fourth day, he felt he had achieved a firm understanding of the dojo's financial problems. He believed he could see where the decline began, and the weaknesses in management before his sensei had fallen ill that had allowed such a total collapse. He allowed himself to think of the German economy as an enemy, one he would have to defeat through strength and guile in order to save the institution that had been his safe haven after the darkest point in his life.

"So you know what to do?" Hitomi asked hopefully when he told her as much.

"Not yet, but I have some ideas."

"Gott sei Dank," Hitomi murmured in relief. She was studying on the couch again, as she had been every night since Hayate arrived. "Do you need anything? Any food? A beer?"

Tonight, Hayate was sitting at the other end of the couch, covered in his own work. "No. I'm still full from dinner, and I don't drink much."

"_Ein_ doesn't drink much?" Hitomi laughed. "You used to buy cases of bock and stumble out to chop the empty bottles behind the dojo."

Hayate smiled, not for the first time that day. "Ein drank a lot."

Hitomi paused at the words. She closed the book in her lap. She returned his smile, but a wince passed her eyes. "I'm grateful. I'm really grateful that you came to help like you have. But, even though you're here with me… I guess I don't know who you are."

Hayate's amber eyes hardened from the congenial ease he'd expressed in Hitomi's presence to the penetrating gaze of the shinobi master. He measured her coolly, sentimentality fading into pure objectivity. "I've fought you many times, so I know I don't need to protect you. But the life I lead in Japan, the life I led before I met you… It's not something to talk about here, in the light."

Hitomi's gaze met his inspection, unwavering. She spoke softly: "I can turn off the lamp."

Hayate looked away, letting the severity bleed from his stare. An unfamiliar lump stuck in his throat. His own reply was equally quiet: "I'll have a beer."

----

"Hurra!"

Hayate watched Hitomi as she ground and swayed to an invisible rhythm on the doorstep of her father's home. She locked eyes with him the same moment she stumbled off the step and he reached out to catch her elbow, chuckling with rare humor. They walked back to her apartment together, forgoing public transportation. They talked about little things on the way: food and beer and Hitomi's studies. Hayate held open the door to her apartment for her.

"Now that the dojo's safe, will you be heading back to Japan?" Hitomi asked as she slipped her sneakers off.

"Tomorrow."

"That soon? I was hoping… No. It's all right. I already asked so much of you."

"The life I left in Japan doesn't wait for long."

Hitomi turned around to face him, watching as he shut the door behind them. She lowered her head, looking at him like an expectant kitten. "You won't give me even one clue…?"

Hayate shook his head somberly.

"It's been over a year since I saw you at that tournament. Even though you were dressed like you were, I recognized you right away. I can guess a little, from the way you were dressed and the way you fought, then… I just don't want to think I'll never see you again." Hitomi clutched her hand to her chest, not as if her heart hurt but as if she was protecting herself. "I'm afraid, if I say goodbye now, it'll be forever."

Hayate placed a hand on her shoulder. "If you think you and your father will need help in the future, I can give you a way to contact me."

"And if we don't…?"

"I don't think you will see me again."

Hayate didn't know what response to expect, but he didn't find himself relieved when Hitomi slowly nodded her head in acceptance.

_She's not my sister._

The thought shot through him like a lightning bolt. How many private, intimate moments had he had with a woman in his lifetime? There were only two other women in his life. He would be returning home to Ayane, and he knew that he and Kasumi's destinies were intertwined.

_This girl isn't my sister._

Hayate felt free with Hitomi. He was relaxed. The intense lifestyle of a Mugen Tenshin ninja seemed like a dream between waking moments in her lively presence, where he could take time to enjoy small things.

"Ein?" Hitomi prompted with concern.

"Do you love me?" Hayate asked, hand tightening on her shoulder.

Hitomi looked back at him, baffled. "W-well… You're… You're like my brother, Ein."

Hayate felt a cold lump settle in the pit of his stomach.

"Why?" Hitomi was going on. "Do you love me? I mean, I never thought about you like that. I'm sorry... Ein? Are you all right? You look pale!"

Hayate tried to recall the reserve of his years of training. Slowly, his hand relaxed on Hitomi's shoulder. "It's nothing. I… misunderstood."

"Do you need some water? A beer? I think you should sit down."

Hayate closed his eyes and lowered his hand to his side. He opened them to see Hitomi's concerned face still peering up at him. He forced a weak smile. "What's my last night in Deutschland without a beer?"

Hitomi reached up and patted him on the shoulder. Hayate guessed he looked like he needed that, too. He sat down on the couch for the last time, and they drank together.

----

"Germany?"

"No problems."

Hayate sat on the bank of the river, listening to the water rush over the rocks. Ryu stood beside him, a bucket of bait at his feet, his fishing line cast into the clear water. Hayate had been home for three weeks, but it was the first time he had had to himself. Sharing time with his best friend was comfortably like being alone. On a day such as this, with the sun streaming over the cool water, they could linger side by side in silence for hours, and conversation, when they spoke, wasn't obtrusive. Their words fell as slow and lazy as the summer afternoon.

"You give him a loan?"

"Money doesn't solve money problems."

"…"

"Meditate on it."

Ryu did, and for awhile, the two of them were quiet again.

Hayate watched a fish dancing at the end of Ryu's line, its scales flashing rainbows as it thrashed at the surface of the water. The Dragon Ninja pulled it to shore with a snap of his wrist, effortlessly plucking it from the air. He removed the hook and murmured a prayer for its spirit before taking it to prepare it for the cook fire. He returned with two cooked fish, offering one to Hayate, who accepted it gratefully.

"I saw a dark vision of my future," Hayate said, before he bit carefully into the juicy hot fish.

Ryu's green eyes flickered towards over him with concern. Hayate let him worry. It made him feel better just to know someone else was disquieted with his problem. He knew Ryu expected him to say more but, for awhile, he ate his fish. Ryu ate, as well, but Hayate could see his gaze slipping sideways from time to time, searching him for any physical warning of malaise.

"I'm going to be stuck with my sisters, forever," Hayate concluded when Ryu had been uneasy long enough to satisfy him. A flinch at the corner of the Dragon Ninja's eye was all Hayate needed to see to measure his relief.

"They're good women."

"And powerful kunoichi," Hayate agreed. Even Kasumi, as a nukenin, was excellent when she could be controlled. Hayate could feel Ryu's unspoken questions at the back of his mind, but the Super Ninja was waiting him out now--passive revenge for the unnecessary concern Hayate had caused. When Hayate gave no answer, Ryu, finished eating his fish, began baiting his line again. Hayate bested him the only way he could: by remaining silent on the topic until one of his subordinates appeared to call him away.


End file.
